The golden rule of racing is to never hit your teammate and yet too often in Formula 1 clashes take place between drivers in the same car.
This season we’ve already seen both Alpine cars clash and at the Spanish Grand Prix, it was Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc who came to blows.
Damon Hill was speaking on Sky Sports F1 after the race and gave his verdict on their coming together.
Carlos Sainz unsurprisingly felt like he had something to prove at his home Grand Prix with his future still dominating the driver’s market.
Charles Leclerc entered the race weekend as Max Verstappen’s closest rival in the Drivers’ Championship despite a dismal Canadian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, he lost that position in the standings to Lando Norris already he did eventually get the better of his teammate at the end of the Grand Prix in Barcelona.
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Damon Hill shares his verdict on the Charles Leclerc / Carlos Sainz incident in Spain
There were some brilliant overtakes heading into the first corner at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The obvious standout was produced by George Russell who came through from 4 on the grid to overtake his teammate, Norris and Verstappen to take the lead of the race.
However, there were also some clumsier moments and the two most high-profile overtakes involved Sainz.
The Spaniard wasn’t happy with Lewis Hamilton’s move down the inside that the FIA cleared even though Sainz compared the incident to when he picked up a penalty in Miami.
However, tensions increased within the Ferrari team after a daring move by Sainz on Leclerc that ended with the pair making contact and the Spaniard coming out in front.
Neither driver was willing to yield and Sainz had to take to the run-off area to avoid a race-ending collision.
Despite gaining an advantage by taking a shortcut to avoid Leclerc, Sainz was allowed to keep the place by the stewards although Leclerc eventually finished the race ahead of him.
He mirrored Norris’s strategy of running later into the Grand Prix before changing his tyres and ultimately had the advantage going into the final stint.
Hill is unconvinced that Leclerc’s decision to keep his foot in was the right call, especially when racing against Sainz.
Karun Chandhok believed it was just hard racing but Hill made the point that even the smallest mistake in that scenario could be disastrous for the team.
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Charles Leclerc should have yielded in battle with Carlos Sainz
Reviewing the incident, Hill said: “OK, that’s Charles [Leclerc] on the inside and Carlos [Sainz] is obviously going to sweep around the outside but neither is prepared to yield.
“I mean this is Charles now, I would say you’ve got to get out of there and he didn’t.
“He was a bit late in getting out of the apex before Carlos hit him there.”
Chandhok added: “I think it’s just hard racing,” to which Hill questioned, “With your teammate?
“They’re both responsible for both cars in the race, that could have been two cars, both Ferraris out there.”
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Both Ferrari drivers will be glad that they only have to wait a few days to return to action at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Leclerc has a battle with Lewis Hamilton to look forward to next year that will be an entirely different challenge from the one he’s facing against Sainz.
Hill believes Leclerc already has a key advantage over the seven-time world champion that will benefit him in 2025.
However, if Ferrari produce a championship-winning car next year then it’s hard to bet against the man who has broken nearly every record possible in Formula 1.
The post ‘Get out of there’: Damon Hill shares who was at fault for Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc incident in Spain appeared first on F1 Oversteer.